I’m a huge fan of Beckett so this should be as much fun as it is educational. I actually had considered making a trip to London this spring to see Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart star in a new production of Waiting For Godot. Unfortunately with our current national economic crisis I have decided to hold off on international travel for a while.
Ironically I’ve already learned something about “Endgame” simply by reading the table of contents. In many modern publications of this work, or collected volumes of the play, some publishers and editors have chosen to exclude Beckett’s original ending. In fact, I was not aware that this work was originally staged in London, and immediately following the conclusion of the play was an “Act Without Words: A Mime for One Player”.
My original reading of this work was conducted from a collection of works by many authors. Needless to say the additional Mime piece was excluded from the version I read and I am looking forward to getting a little additional exposure to Beckett’s intended night of theater.
I consider this as good an opportunity as any to link to my good friends from The Mime Company. Eliot Monaco and Amanda Brown are the artistic directors of this wonderful little gem of a theater company specializing exclusively in the production of mime theater. They are based in Chicago, and I have had the great fortune to see two of their shows. Based on this minimal exposure alone I can honestly say: you have never seen good Mime before.
You need to visit Chicago. You need to see what these two amazing artists are doing. It will change how you watch theater. More importantly it will make you appreciate what a group of talented actors can do on stage for 90 minutes without words. Check out their website. Watch some videos. Understand that this is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
This weeks reading series will be on time, and is worth checking out. I’ve already read this play once before so I will aspire to approach this work from a new angle in an attempt to provide some fresh perspective on a well known work.
If you are interested in reading with me… or you would simply like to tell me how much you disagree with me (and why), feel free to pick up a copy of the book!
ISBN: 58-5532
Amazon: Buy it!